Neon Noir Designs

[Kamome442]

More Bus Mirrors

 

When I originally made up a the bus mirrors I did not expect them to ever sell, it turns out they not only sell they are one of my best selling etches.

I figured it was high time to offer some more variations. There are plenty to choose from the problem is I know very little about which bus carries which mirror. Information seems hard to come by, I have drawn up a few alternative designs although there seems to be plenty more that could be done.

 

These were drawn by using photos for reference, it is much harder to find photos of the drivers side mirrors ( I guess people don't want to stand in the middle of the road to take a picture). It will likely be a slow burn project and probably a lot of researching to get all the information I need. Ideally I need to find a bus fan site, if anyone knows of any, that cites the bus type and gives pictures from multiple angles. 

 

One Last Thing

 

I forgot to mention I received the new fences along with the stairs and rulers. There was however an issue with the design, some of the fences were missing. It looks like when I drew the design up there was hairline gaps between the fence and the frame. I decided to paint and use them for product photography. I will reorder them this month.

[Madsing]

Hi Joe,

Yes, please make more. I missed them last time.

I'm happy to share a few photos.

Coach's mirrors look very thick and may have to be 3d printed.

Marc

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Kamome442]

Cool thank you @Madsing, that will certainly be useful. 

I decided to look up a list of buses and search for each type by name. The first one I looked up is a Mitsubishi Fuso Aero Star (the first two pictures you posted I believe).

I figured it would help to draw a rough representation of each bus type. I figured that would make easier to choose the correct mirrors. This is what I have drawn up so far:

 

I still need to scale everything correctly and draw the mirrors on the front view. One thing I do notice from Madsing's pictures the mirrors I have drawn up match the second picture. The passenger side mirror on the first image is different. The two buses do look very slightly different so I am guessing they are different generations/variants. I am happy to one or two styles for each bus type.

They are both Toei buses so hopefully the mirrors are manufacturer supplied and not 3rd party parts added by each operator. If that is the case I dread to think how many combinations there could be!

[maihama eki]

I have a 1/80 kit of the Mitsubishi Fuso Aero Star that I haven't built. Since it is 1/80, it includes the mirrors. It is an Aoshima kit. Another reference point.

 

https://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10664347

 

 

[Kamome442]

Thank you @maihama eki that will be a great help.

I have managed to to find sales catalogs for the Aero Star, Isuzu Erga (Madsing's 3rd to 6th photos, unless they are Hino Rainbows I can never tell them apart) and the Hino Poncho (7th to 10th pictures). They don't have much information about the mirrors but they do include technical drawings with accurate measurements so I can use that to work out the mirror dimensions.

I agree @Madsing the coach mirrors would look better 3D printed, It will take a lot testing to get the shape right where it connects to body. 

 

[Kamome442]

Just found this top down image:

 

Source: https://www.isuzu.co.jp/product/bus/ergaduo/

 

This is insanely useful along with the side and front views I have to visualise the size and shape of this mirror.

[cteno4]

I know there are a lot of bus otaku/enthusiasts in Japan so I imagine there are forums with subgroups focused on side mirrors! Just finding them is the trick.

 

jeff

[Kamome442]

20 hours ago, cteno4 said:

I know there are a lot of bus otaku/enthusiasts in Japan so I imagine there are forums with subgroups focused on side mirrors! Just finding them is the trick.

 

jeff

 

I am sure there must be, I wouldn't be surprised if people collect used mirrors. There are a groups that collect old roadsigns, manhole covers, traffic and street lights.

 

I have finished one set of mirrors for the Hino Poncho

 

I see the Kato model comes with mirrors that can be added, these are molded plastic and a little oversized compared to the spindly little mirrors most of these buses seem to have. The advantage is the model already has holes on the side to fit the mirror. I adjusted the arms to match the position holes using photos as a guide.

They are tiny but thankfully only need one 90 degree fold on each side.

[Kamome442]

Work on the next the next bus mirror. These are an older but I am struggling to work what make of bus they are on so for now I have placed them on the Erga model. 

 

Once I have worked out the bus type for these I will create some more accurate artwork.

[Kamome442]

A very helpful Bus Enthusiast contacted me to say these mirrors are used on Nishitetsu buses in Fukuoka they are made by a local coach works called Nishinippon Auto Body Industry. They seem to be very similar to Nissan Space Runners in design so maybe they are modifying those to suit running in Kyushu. It probably means very limited interest for an etch but I like the design so I will make them up anyway. 

 

 

I also ordered a Nishitetsu bus to stick them on 🫣 Oh no am I a bus person now?

[Kamome442]

Through the Looking Glass

 

I have finished the design for Egra and Rainbow buses. These will be the next design I release as they are used far and wide. I am confident with the design for the passenger side as it is very similar to the mirrors I made before. I was never happy with the design I came up with for the divers side so this time I have tried to simplify it as much as possible. I think the new design will be easier to make however I want to test it first so I will order a sample at the end of the month providing it works I will make them available.

 

Spot the difference

 

I have found a lot of small variations of the basic design while looking through pictures. I am happy to include these either as part of a single etch or as separate releases.

The 'standard' design (A) is the most common however some companies use a rectangular mirror instead of a circular one (B)on the passenger side:

 

This would easy to include on a single etch as the mirrors don't take up much room. Alternatively some companies use the coach style mirror on both sides (C) This would be harder to include on a single etch as you would end up with unused parts so maybe would be better as a separate option:

 

The final versions I found are for those who believe that 5 mirrors just isn't enough to decorate their bus. These are found on most Kawasaki City buses and at least one bus in Hokkaido, I am not sure of the company. These include an extra mirror as either an additional stalk on the main assembly (D) or as a separate bracket (E) mounted on the front of the bus:

 

I am not entire sure of the purpose of the additional mirror it would seem to be for checking the destination or for observing pretty clouds while waiting at stops?!  These might also benefit from their own etch if anyone is interested in creating a more unique design. (Tomytec is about to release a set of Kawasaki City buses)

[Kamome442]

Insert Some Quippy Joke About Waiting for a Bus Then 3 Turn Up

 

I have finished the design work on a set of mirrors for Older style Erga I, these are also used on Blue Ribbon II buses.

 

I will order these along with designs for the Egra II and Rainbow (mentioned in the last post) this week. Hopefully I should have them before the end of the year. Once I have had a chance to make them up and check they work, I should be able to order the production version in January to be available early February.

I will also order samples of the Poncho and Fukuoka style mirrors. These will probably need some additional design work before I am happy with them, not least because I don't own a Poncho model (yet). There may also be the need to create separate versions for the Tomytec and Kato models.

 

I will make up some proper packaging for the mirrors going forward that includes the instructions on the sleeve. I have been playing around with some layout ideas for the cover:

 

I personally like the front view however it's probably the least helpful to visualise the style of mirror you are buying. I am not sure that is an issue considering there will be reference pictures on the website?!

 

How Niche Can You Get?

 

I still need to finish work on a few other common bus groups however while searching for pictures I have been able to get some good reference images of more obscure variants. I might add these to the range later if anyone is interested in a doing a little modification work. First up are buses used for driver training, these have additional mirrors for instructors. This layout is used by Toei:

 

There are also police buses, I figured I could make an etch with both mirrors and the mesh window screens. These would also have lights on the roof and a range of camera boxes mounted front and back. I could possibly 3D print these to include on the set.

 

I have never tried etching a mesh before so it would need some testing to see what tolerances I can get away with.

Finally considering I did not expect mirrors to sell could other etched parts be popular? One thing I have noticed lots of buses run with aftermarket advertisement boards applied. It seems to be quite common for them to be left empty: 

 

[maihama eki]

I decided to paint some of your 1:80 scale manhole covers. Some of the designs are especially suited to painting the details a bit like cloisonné using a very small paint brush. This is the Style 007 that has a sort of a sunflower pattern. I added a "flow improver" additive to the acrylic paint to help it fill the little half etched areas. It worked okay, but it makes the paint dry extremely slowly.  I added a little weathering dirt and embedded it in a piece of pavement.

 

Excuse the marginal macro photo from my phone.

 

 

I'm not sure I could do this with an n-scale version.

 

[Kamome442]

@maihama eki Whoa, that is some seriously impressive painting skills!

The little hatched sections in middle of the sunflower are insanely small, I would have lot my mind trying to paint those.

If I release an N scale version, the sunflowers middle will be just an empty circle so that could be possible to paint. The petals would be tiny however.

 

I was thinking about how to paint a manhole cover the other day. I was wondering if it would be possible to paint them white and colour the segments with felt tip pens. Then use a rubber ink roller to carefully apply black to the raised sections. I may give it a try if I can find my roller.

 

[cteno4]

I wonder about an n scale etched manhole that just has a small lip sticking up around the edge and flat recessed center. Then put a decal in the middle that had the paint and texture from a photo. Make the size of standard punches (say 4 or 5mm) to pop out the circles in the decal. Or etched deeper and use a psa sticker in the depression. could put another ring line around the decal area to best align the punch over the manhole decal. Since no transparent they could be white decal paper so you can have white in the painted bits. Being recessed a bit you will never see the decal edge side on.
 

The main feeling of depth on manholes at any distance is usually is the lip edge. Maybe a thought to add onto an etch to test. But this idea may have already been thru your mind way back…

 

cheers,

 

jeff

[Kamome442]

Mirrors On Their Way

 

The first set of new mirrors have been ordered. There will be 2 versions 002A has arm mounted mirrors on the passenger side and A pillar mounted on drivers side. 002B has the arm style on both sides.

 

I was able to simplify the designs a little, the arm style now needs just one fold to for the circular bind spot mirror:

 

The 3 mirrors can be attached, it can glued to the bus in area shaded green:

 

The drivers side mirror is a lot easier to put together than before, it has 3 folds to form the correct shape:

 

Then the 2 mirrors can be attached. It attaches on the back of the A pillar (green).

 

They should arrive in early January.

Joe

 

 

[Kamome442]

The Squid Hunter

 

Back in April I found a picture of a two fences with a squid motif along with a wave design. From the photo I could tell they were 2m sections with the pattern of wave/squid/wave then repeat, like this:

 

I wanted to locate the fences to see if there were other lengths of fence with this pattern to make them into an etch. The caption to the photo stated that it was taken in Aomori, I could tell they were on a wall next to a body of water presumably the sea. Starting a one end of Aomori's coast I started following coastal roads in Street View for a few minutes once a week. Yesterday I found the fences in the wild just off National Route 339 on a small coastal road starting at a small village called Orito. It seems there is only a 2m section for this design along the sea wall. However the same design appears on the other side of the road every 100m or so mixed in with a standard guard pipe fence. The pattern here alternates wave/squid/wave/squid/wave like this:

 

Real fence on the sea wall:

Source: Google Streetview

 

Real fence on the road side:

Source: Google Streetview

 

Making up 2 sets of fences, one for each style would probably not make much sense for a niche design, I doubt either design would sell enough to cover the cost of making them. That said I like the animal designs and so far I only have fish. I decided to combine them onto one etch. There are more of the sea wall design to reflect that they run continuously while the other pattern is intermittent.

 

I am not sure when I will release them as the fences never really do very well but at some point nest year I will add them to the range.

Edited December 23, 2024 by Kamome442

[cteno4]

Wow! Cephelopods rule! I’m good for an order!

 

thanks Joe!

 

jeff

[Kamome442]

Not long now

 

Firstly Happy New Year to everyone!

I just wanted to let you know I had an email from the etching company to say my order would be ready in 1-2 weeks. This will be a set of N-scale fences, 1:80 Scale fences and 2 new types of bus mirror (002A and 002B). Now that there are going to be several variations I figured it would help to create a pictorial guide to show which buses use each mirror type:

 

The most common style is 002A. The three buses in the purple box are all Nara area which decided to be different and use a rectangular blind spot mirror. I have included these as an option in set A. I have only found a couple of buses that use 002B, Namely JR Hokkaido Buses and most buses run by Tobu. I am also going to add another variant 002C which is similar to A but with the brackets on the drivers side mirror inverted. Quite a few bus companies run this version:

 

It is my by no means a complete list but I will try to update it over time.

I will order 002C next week along with an updated version of the original design. I am working on the next design, common on older Hino and Isuzu Non-Step and Non-Non-Step buses. This will be numbered 003, they will look like something like this:

 

Joe

 

 

[Kamome442]

I have been drawing up a set of instructions ready for the new etches.

I just want to check that they make sense and are easy to follow.

 

 

Also if anyone can confirm the translations are correct I would be very much obliged.

Joe

[cteno4]

Wow ikea and just about every manufacturing company that makes anything you need to assemble needs to hire you to do their documentation Joe! Best fold instructions I’ve seen. 

 

kudos!

 

jeff

[Kamome442]

🤣 Thank you Jeff, I will take that!

[Madsing]

Perfect! This looks very neat and the instructions are very clear! (I cannot comment on the Japanese translation.)
I have a question, but maybe it’s just me, sorry if it’s obvious: what does A-pillar refer to?

Marc

 

[Kamome442]

Thanks Marc, good point on the A-pillar meaning. It is a system to label uprights on vehicles, 'A' is the first pillar behind the windscreen followed by B and so on.

 

 

Source: www.drivingtesttips.biz

 

I will need to check that this is an internationally used nomenclature.

Edited January 4 by Kamome442

[Kingmeow]

3 hours ago, Kamome442 said:

I will need to check that this is an internationally used nomenclature.

 

True in the US.